


Honey

by cindergal



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Community: schmoop_bingo, Early Days, Established Relationship, M/M, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 19:56:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14143389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cindergal/pseuds/cindergal
Summary: Luke introduces Reid to someone very important in his life





	Honey

**Author's Note:**

> Importing some of my older fic from LJ. Originally posted there 08/27/10.

When Luke told him he had someone important for him to meet, Reid had imagined yet another sibling, great uncle, or second cousin twice removed. He hadn't considered this important someone would be...a horse.

"Hey, cowboy. Glad you could make it." Luke's voice rings out from somewhere in the shadows where Reid can't see.

"That's urban cowboy, to you."

"Not for long."

Reid stands just inside the door, letting his eyes adjust to the relative darkness of the barn after stepping in from the late afternoon sun. The scent of hay and horses fills his nose. It's sweet and earthy. Surprisingly pleasant. It reminds him of Luke.

He can't help but smile as Luke saunters towards him. He's wearing faded jeans, a t-shirt that's a little too small, and riding boots that give him a bit of a swagger. The fact that Luke has absolutely no idea how hot he is makes him even more attractive, if that's even possible, and Reid feels his ridiculous heart start to beat ridiculously faster.

"What fresh hell have you got in store for me, now?" Reid murmurs, leaning in to brush his lips across Luke's. "I didn't wear my cowboy boots, you know." He feels Luke's lips curve into a smile against his own.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll get you up on a horse eventually. But today is just for introductions."

He takes Reid's hand, leading him deeper into the barn until they are standing in front of a stall containing an impossibly large animal.

"This is your someone special?" Reid asks.

Luke shoves both hands in his pockets and shrugs. "Love me, love my horse," he says. His eyes widen comically when he realizes what he's just said. "I mean...uh, Reid, this is Honey."

Reid decides to let this quite interesting statement go and try to focus on the horse. And Honey is, indeed, a beauty. She has a golden coat befitting her name and a blonde mane and tail. Her large, brown eyes regard him solemnly. He takes a step towards her, but she shakes her head and snorts loudly.

"I don't think it likes me," Reid says. "And I haven't even insulted it yet."

"Well, you might start by not calling her an ‘it.’ She's a she. I've had her since I was twelve years old." He grins. "Only girl I ever loved. And it's not that she doesn't like you, it's just that she doesn't know you. C'mere, I'll introduce you." Luke holds out his hand.

"I, uh, you know...she's very big."

"It's okay," Luke says, holding out his hand again. "I know she's going to like you. She's a very good judge of character."

Oh, great.

Honey whinnies loudly and stomps the ground with her front hooves, causing Reid to take a step back. He suddenly has the completely irrational thought that his and Luke's entire relationship may hinge on whether this horse likes him or not.

Luke gives him a sympathetic smile. "You've never been around horses before?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Maybe I should have started with something smaller. Like the barn cats," he teases.

"Never had one of those, either," Reid says. "No cats, no dogs, not even a goldfish. I did have an ant farm, once, but they just ran away that time I let them out to play."

Luke isn't fooled by his lame attempt at humor, and his brow furrows. "You never had any pets at all?"

Reid shrugs as if it doesn't matter to him in the least. As if he never begged his parents for a puppy when he was five. Or eight. Or ten. "My parents were too busy showing off their trained seal to have time for any other animals."

Luke’s eyes get that look, that one that always completely does him in, and Reid really cannot have that. He screws up his courage, takes a step closer, and gazes up at the horse.

"Honey, huh? She looks like Mr. Ed. Does she talk?"

Luke laughs softly. "Well, she is a Palomino like Mr. Ed. But she only talks to me."

He steps up behind Reid, placing one hand on Reid's left shoulder and taking Reid's right hand in his, guiding it up to stroke the horses neck.

"She was the only one I could talk to back then. This horse knows all my secrets." Their fingers brush as they both pet the horse, and Luke is speaking softly, his voice in Reid's ear. It feels like Luke's telling him secrets, too.

"She was the first one to know you liked boys, I bet."  
  
"She sure was. And the one I talked to whenever my parents were fighting, or I felt left out at school. I got drunk hiding in a corner of her stall more times than I'd like to admit."

Reid finds himself staring at the barn floor, shaking his head, and before he knows it, Luke has taken a step away.

"Don't say it," Luke says.

Reid looks up, surprised. "Say what?"

"Poor little rich kid," Luke says with a sad smile.

Reid's hand falls away from Honey, and reaches for Luke instead. "That's not what I was thinking."

"No?"

"No." Reid says, hooking his arms loosely around Luke's neck. "It was a lot more selfish than that. I was thinking..." He looks away. "I was thinking, at least you had someone to talk to."

Luke takes Reid's chin in his hand and turns Reid's head to look at him, eyes full of understanding before he kisses him. Honey neighs in protest, and they both laugh.

"I think she's jealous," Reid says.

"Oh, I know how you can make it up to her."

Luke reaches into a canvas bag that's hanging from a peg near the stall, and takes out several pieces of carrot. "Here, you can feed her."

Reid considers the carrots dubiously.

"Her teeth are very big and my fingers are very important," Reid says.

Luke chuckles. "Just hold your palm flat, like this," Luke demonstrates, placing a carrot into Reid's hand. "It feels kind of weird at first."

The horse snuffles against his palm, practically inhaling the carrots, and before he knows it, Reid is laughing. The end of her nose is velvety soft and tickles his hand, and after she finishes the carrots, she raises her head to nuzzle against his face. He jumps a little in surprise before bringing his hand up to pet her again.

"See," Luke says, beaming. "She likes you. Give this girl some food, and she's yours forever."

"Well, no wonder she likes me. We have so much in common."

Luke laughs. "I know! Speaking of which, are you hungry?"

"Silly question."

"Good. Because Grandma Emma's pot roast is the other half of this date. I figured that would win me some points, even if you and Honey didn't get along." He watches Reid with Honey and smiles. "I guess I didn't have to worry."

"This did go much better than those lessons on people skills," Reid agrees, giving Honey one last carrot before he slings an arm around Luke's shoulders and starts heading for the house. "And by the way, that Freudian slip you made earlier? Love me, love my horse?"

The tops of Luke's ears turn beet red. "Uh, that wasn't...I didn't mean..." he sighs in defeat. "Yeah?"

Reid leans in close, lips brushing the shell of Luke's ear like he‘s telling him a secret. "I love your horse."

 

 


End file.
